Debt
Debt payoff calculator
Both methods keep your total monthly payment constant and roll each cleared debt’s minimum onto the next one. The only difference is the order. Sometimes that difference is worth thousands, and sometimes it is worth nothing at all — this page tells you which.
Your debts
Debt 1
Debt 1
Debt 2
Changes the symbol on your figures. It does not convert them — there is no exchange rate here.
Anything on top of the minimums. This is where the difference comes from.
Debt free in
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| Debt | Balance | APR | Interest paid | Cleared |
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This calculator needs JavaScript to recalculate. The figures above are a worked example, and every assumption behind them is written out below.
What this assumes
Both methods hold your total monthly payment constant. When a debt clears, its minimum does not return to your pocket — it rolls onto the next debt in the order. That rolling is the whole mechanism, and it is why an extra 200 a month clears everything years earlier rather than months.
Interest is charged monthly at APR divided by twelve, which is the credit card convention, so these figures should match your statement closely.
No new borrowing, no missed payments, and no change in rate. A variable rate or a promotional 0% period ending will both move the real answer.
Snowball or avalanche
Avalanche pays the highest interest rate first. It is always the cheaper of the two, mathematically, because it kills the most expensive money first.
Snowball pays the smallest balance first. It costs more in interest, sometimes considerably, and it is the one people are more likely to finish — because clearing an entire debt is a visible, motivating event, and the first one arrives quickly.
The honest position is that the best method is the one you actually complete. If avalanche saves you 300 over three years and snowball is the reason you stick with it, snowball is the better plan.
When they are the same
If your smallest debt also happens to carry the highest rate — which is common, because credit cards are usually both — the two methods produce an identical order and an identical cost. The comparison above will say so rather than manufacturing a difference.
Before you start
Two things are usually worth doing first. Put a small emergency fund in place, or the next unexpected bill goes straight back onto the card you are clearing. And check whether a balance transfer at 0% is available to you — a year of no interest beats any ordering strategy.
Common questions
Which is better, snowball or avalanche?
Why do both methods sometimes give the same answer?
Should I pay off debt or invest?
What if I cannot afford the minimums?
The app this comes from
The extra payment has to come from somewhere
Everything on this page is driven by one figure: what you can put in on top of the minimums. That money is almost always already being spent, in small amounts, on things that would not be missed — which you can only act on once you can see them.
Not out yet. TLDR Money International is in build for the United States and the United Kingdom first, on iPhone and Android. There is nothing to download and nothing to sign up to — when there is, this page will say so.
Last reviewed 20 August 2026. The arithmetic behind this page is covered by automated tests that run on every deploy.